Getting hooked on books

Research shows that the habit of reading at a young age not only makes one knowledgeable, but it also enhances imagination, boosts confidence, improves language skills and promotes quicker thinking. Reading books, therefore, continues to be important even in this era of digital information to gain knowledge - both online and offline.

The British Council, Chennai, is organising workshops for children between 5 and 11 years to help them improve reading speed and acquire storytelling and creative writing skills. The Reading Challenge encourages children to come to the British Council Library and instil the habit of reading amongst them

Janaka Pushpanathan, Director of South India, British Council, says that this global program is based on the principle of encouragement and motivation and inspires children to read for pleasure, thus improving their English, developing their reading skills, and building their confidence.

“Reading is a fundamental skill that has benefits going beyond the classroom and the challenge inspires children to read for pleasure, thus improving their English, developing their reading skills, and building their con?dence”, she believes.

“We are consistently working to provide access to creativity and bring various unique ideas from the UK to India to create cultural collaboration. Reading Challenge is one of them”.

The Challenge started in 1999 and has been running across England and Wales and Scotland. Over 9,00,000 books have been read so far. The theme this year is ‘Space Chase’ that celebrates ‘50 years of humans landing on the moon’. Every child who finishes the challenge is awarded a special certificate and a medal.

Given the onslaught of the multi-screen environment both at home, at school and at work, parents are looking for ways for their children to reduce screen time in a structured manner while providing that much-needed people to people interaction required for the holistic growth of their child.  

During the Reading Challenge, multiple workshops will be organised for participants which will help them improve reading speed and acquire storytelling and creative writing skills. Reading Challenge, therefore, will play an important role in the overall development of a child.

The workshops have been curated to help participating children improve their language skills and acquire storytelling and creative writing skills. Reflecting on every book they read, children will be encouraged to express their views and voice their opinions as book reviewers.

“The end goal of the workshops is to learn while having lots of fun and adventures along the way”, says Janaka. “Hope the theme of this year - Space Chase ignites the spark amongst children to become future scientists, astronauts or spacecraft engineers”.